Who are we? What is Equalinks? Why Equalinks?
Equality and Equitable solutions lie at the heart of the change we wish to bring to society and hope to do this by linking national organisations with those in the communities delivering solutions and change where its needed the most.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
Someone much wiser than us coined that phrase but it is a saying we try our best to live by. Our passion is to level the playing field not for any one child or community but trying our utmost to use our skills, reach and knowledge to bring about real and substantive change which empowers communities to support and provide sustainable solutions for themselves.
Having come from the communities that we hope to empower we have the first hand lived experiences of growing up in areas of deprivation, seeing real-life poverty in modern day Britain, struggling first hand with barriers of access to a whole of services, struggling against an inequitable and at times unfair systems. Yet we managed but we refuse this to be the norm for future generations. Growing up in on council estate, being working class, Black or brown or from a particular faith should not impinge and should not impact on the lives and futures of our communities.
What inequalities are prevalent today?
The UK has one of the poorest rates of social mobility in the developed world. This means that people born into low-income families, regardless of their talent, or their hard work, do not have the same access to opportunities as those born into more privileged circumstances
There are inequalities based on race, religion, and social classification
The trend from data shows that inequality along racial lines has escalated over the years. Disparities facing black and minority ethnic (BME) groups in England are sustained across the areas of health, the criminal justice system, education, employment, immigration and politics.
key findings include:
- Black people are about 18 times more likely to be searched than their white counterparts.
- BME children make up over half of the child population in prison (28% are black). This is an increase of 15% over the past decade.
- BME people with learning disabilities die younger than their white counterparts; there is a 26-year difference between white and BME people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
- For people aged 16 to 24 with rates of 10% and 19% respectively. Black African and Bangladeshi ethnic groups had the highest rates of youth unemployment, at 26% and 24%
The impact of Covid
- COVID-19 has had a 50% higher impact on BAME communities.
- Those living in the most deprived areas of the UK have been disproportionately impacted with a 118% higher mortality rate than the least deprived areas. 46% of all British Muslims living in the ten most deprived Local Authority Districts in England.
- According to a report by the Office of National Statistics, Muslim communities have had the highest COVID-19 mortality rates by faith group.
- Children of black, Asian and ethnic minority heritage are suffering much worse damage to their mental health as a result of the pandemic than their white peers.
- Significantly reduced quality of and access to health services, a prevalence of social housing and extended family structures, and majority employment as key workers of Muslims have also increased the risk of exposure to the virus.
So what do we want to do?
We are striving to bring about change. Real change that is tangible, not just change discussed in policies or round board tables but put things into place which will AFFECT and make ACTUAL change.
This will be in a number of ways:
Empowering Adults
Projects where we support and deliver directly to the community through empowering leaders and adults with skills which they can then impart to their communities and future generations, whether this be in the outdoors, though youth activities or STEM based groups. These will be take in a variety of forms from training, to courses to experiences that enhance their roles in supporting further development
Empowering Young People and families
Projects where we support and deliver directly to young people and families. We are keen believers you must see it to be it, so we wish to allow as many opportunities as possible for these communities to experience and have real opportunities to access a range of experiences which are otherwise unable to access. We will strive to build a real network in the areas we are working, where possible have the initiatives led by the community or experts within the community and seek to make lasting change
Linking up National Organisations with Grassroot initiatives
Many organisations have invested significant resources into ensuring they are representative, have equality and equitable workings embedded into their organisations and programme streams. Many also have a desire to implement real change, yet this desire and as a result the impact fails to reach its full potential. We can support national organisation implement their aspirations and facilitate more inclusive, more impactful projects which will aid their EDI aspirations.
Policy and programme creation
With years of working at national and grassroot organisation level, we have a deep rooted understanding of barriers and obstacles coupled with proactive and creative solutions to address some of the conscious and unconscious biases that are prevalent in the UK. We are passionate, driven and can support organisations as they wish to make that change.